Voting machine with primary election selection

ABSTRACT

A mechanical voting machine can be easily adapted to operate in a selective primary. The selective primary mechanism includes at least two party selector spindles each having a bell crank with a lug which engages an associated ladder channel at the top and bottom of a small opening therein. Columns of voting spindles are interconnected in groups so that the ladder channels of each group are moved up and down in unison. Pull straps connect each group of columns to a primary election interlock so that movement of one of the straps in a direction corresponding with an unlocking movement of a group of ladder channels immobilizes the other straps in the primary election interlock. Alternatively, a declared primary election mechanism may be provided. This mechanism includes a multiple sided selector shaft having a knob thereon outside of the machine rotatable to a position indicating the declared party. A vertical bar is normally moved vertically by a crank on each voting spindle. When this vertical movement is restricted, the voting spindles of this column cannot be used. The selector shaft has a plurality of lug receiving holes on the sides thereof spaced along the shaft above each of the vertical bars. Lugs are selectively disposed in the holes so that when the shaft is rotated to the position of a particular party, only the vertical bars associated with the columns for that party can be moved vertically without engaging a lug.

United States Patent Shoup [4 1 Oct. 28, 1975 [54] VOTING MACHINE WITHPRIMARY ELECTION SELECTION [76] Inventor: Ransom F. Shoup, 400 MorrisAve.,

PO. Box 389, Bryn Mawr, Pa. 19010 [22] Filed: Jan. 31, 1974 [21] Appl.No.: 438,476

Related US. Application Data [63] Continuation-in-part of Ser. No.418,565, Nov. 23,

1973, abandoned.

[52] US. Cl 235/55 C [51] Int. Cl. G07C 13/00 [58] Field of Search235/54 R, 54 A, 54 F, 55 R,

235/55 A, 55 C, 55 E, 51, 54 C [56] References Cited UNITED STATESPATENTS 995,357 6/1911 Lausterer 235/54 C 2,099,202 11/1937 Gustavson235/54 C 3,051,379 8/1962 Shoup et al. 235/55 C 3,312,390 4/1967 Shoup235/54 R Primary Examiner-Stephen J. Tomsky Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Woodcock, Washburn, Kurtz & Mackiewicz [57] ABSTRACT A mechanicalvoting machine can be easily adapted to operate in a selective primary.The selective primary mechanism includes at least two party selectorspindles each having a bell crank with a lug which engages an associatedladder channel at the top and bottom of a small opening therein. Columnsof voting spindles are interconnected in groups so that the ladderchannels of each group are moved up and down in unison. Pull strapsconnect each group of columns to a primary election interlock so thatmovement of one of the straps in a direction corresponding with anunlocking movement of a group of ladder channels immobilizes the otherstraps in the primary election interlock. Alternatively, a declaredprimary election mechanism may be provided. This mechanism includes amultiple sided selector shaft having a knob thereon outside of themachine rotatable to a position indicating the declared party. Avertical bar is normally moved vertically by a crank on each votingspindle. When this vertical movement is restricted, the voting spindlesof this column cannot be used. The selector shaft has a plurality of lugreceiving holes on the sides thereof spaced along the shaft above eachof the vertical bars. Lugs are selectively disposed in the holes so thatwhen the shaft is rotated to the position of a particular party, onlythe vertical bars associated with the columns for that party can bemoved vertically without engaging a lug.

4 Claims, 12 Drawing Figures SIDE PANEL U.S. Patent Oct. 28, 1975 Sheet1 of 6 3,915,374

SIDE PANEL FRONT PANEL US. Patent Oct. 28, 1975 Sheet2of6 3,915,374

US. Patent 00. 28, 1975 Sheet 3 of6 3,915,374

US. Patent Oct. 28, 1975 Sheet40f6 3,915,374

@ PIN ROLLER PIN ROLLER U.S. Patent- Oct. 28, 1975 Sheet5of6 3,915,374

SIDE PANEL US. Patent Oct. 28, 1975 Sheet 6 of6 3,915,374

VOTING MACHINE WITH PRIMARY ELECTION SELECTION BACKGROUND OF THEINVENTION This application is a continuation-in-part of applica' tionSer. No. 418,565 filed Nov. 23, 1973, now abandoned.

This invention relates to voting machines and more particularly to avoting machine with a primary election mechanism.

A'mechanical voting machine is shown in the Shoup U.S. Pat. No.2,054,102. Mechanical voting machines of this type employ interlocks tolimit the number of votes which may be cast for a candidate. Interlocksare shown, for example, in the Shoup US. Pat. No. 2,293,669. U.S. Pat.No. 3,054,557 Shoup et al. described a voting machine which can be usedin either a declared or a selective primary.

In a declared primary election the voter must give the name of his partyand the election officer adjusts the machine so as to lock out thevoting facilities of all parties other than that to which the voterbelongs. Shoup et al. US. Pat. No. 3,051,379 is an example of a votingmachine capable of operation in a declared primary.

In a selective primary the voter does not give the name of his party,but the machine is so arranged that, if the voter turns the votingspindles assigned to a candidate running for the office of mayor of theticket of one party, the voting spindles assigned to other candidatesrunning for the same office on the ticket of other parties, are lockedout. Alternatively, the voter turns a party selector knob which allowshim to vote for the candidates of his party, but the candidates of allother parties are locked out.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In accordance with this invention a votingmachine is easily adapted for use in a selective primary or a declaredprimary.

It is an object of this invention to provide an improved selectiveprimary mechanism which is easily installed, and is reliable inoperation.

It is a further object to provide a declared primary mechanism whichreliably locks out the party columns other than the columns of thevoters declared registration.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a votingmachine;

FIG. 2 shows columns of voting spindles, associated bell cranks, and aprimary election interlock for a selective primary;

FIG. 3 shows a ladder channel and associated bell crank;

FIG. 4 shows an interlock and a pull strap;

FIGS. 5 and 6 show details of an interlock;

FIG. 7 is a top sectional view of the voting spindle, the back verticalframe, the restoring ladder channel and the selective primary columncontrolling ladder;

FIG. 8 shows a voting spindle, back vertical frame and a restoringladder channel (also called a vertical bar);

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of the declared primary selector shaft;

FIG. 10 shows the selector shaft controlling mechanrsm;

FIG. 11 is a cross-section of the selector shaft; and

FIG. 12 shows an improved wedge shaped end for use in elections havingextremely large groups of candidates to be elected.

DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT FIG. 1 shows a voting machine withthe usual columns of voting levers which a voter rotates to select thecandidate of his choice. These levers rotate voting spindles 5. In aselective primary rotation of a voting lever in a group associated witha particular party will lock out the candidates of all other parties onthe machine. Two party selector spindle levers 13a and 15a are shown.Rotation of the party selector spindle l3 actuates an interlockmechanism which permits voting for the candidates of that party butlocks out all candidates of other parties. Alternatively, rotation ofthe party selector spindles 13 or 15 can clear choices previously madeand permits voting for the candidates of a party other than the choiceoriginally made.

FIG. 2 shows four columns 14 of voting machine spindles. The spindles 5in column 1 and in column 2 are associated with leve rs for theselection of the candidates of one party, for example, the Republicanparty. The spindles 5 in the columns 3 and 4 are associated with votinglevers of another party, for example, the Democratic party. The usualbell cranks, or butterfly assemblies 6, are mounted on each of thespindles 5. Pull straps such as 7 engage a vertical voting interlock,or, under certain ballot adaptations, they engage a general electioninterlock. These interlocks are not shown but are similar inconstruction to the interlock 19 shown in FIG. 4. The structure of thepull straps and the interlock is such that movement of any of the strapsin vote casting direction immobilize other straps for that office.

A ladder channel 12 has a plurality of vertically spaced openings, orcutout portions 12A. The ladder channels are each guided for movement ina vertical direction by a ladder retainer. A lug 22 on each butterflyengages the ladder channel at the top of one of the openings therein.When the ladder channel is moved upwardly, any one of the votingspindles in that column can be rotated in a vote casting direction.However, when the ladder 12 is in a lower vertical position, the lug 22on each butterfly assembly firmly engages the top of the opening in theladder channel and rotation in a vote casting direction is prevented.

Party selector spindles 13 and 15 each have a bell crank 18 with a lug22 thereon. The lug 22 on the bell crank 18 engages a small hole 17 inthe bottom of the ladder channel. If the selector spindle 13 is rotatedby the voter, the ladder channel 12 is raised. Then all of the votingspindles in that column are free of engagement with the ladder channeland may be rotated. Alternatively, if the voter first rotates one of thevoting spindles, then the ladder channel 12 is raised and votingspindles in that column are similarly free. If the voter changes hismind about voting for that party, rotation of the selector spindle inthe counterclockwise direction will return the ladder channel 12 to itslower position. Then the voter may proceed to vote for the candidate ofanother party.

A bar 14 interconnects the spindles in the columns 1 and 2, theRepublican group of columns. Similarly, the bar 14 interconnects columns3 and 4 of voting spindles in the Democratic group. (While two columnsof spindles have been shown in the Republican group and two columns ofspindles in the Democratic, it will be appreciated that more columnscould be interconnected in each group and more groups can be providedfor other parties.)

The bars 14 interconnect the voting spindles in groups so that theladder channels of each group are moved up and down in unison. That is,when the ladder channel 12 in column 1 is moved upwardly to free vot ingspindles for rotation in that column, the ladder channel 12 in column 2is similarly moved upwardly to free voting spindles in that column formovement in vote casting direction.

A primary election interlock 19 is shown in more detail in FIG. 4. Thisinsures that the voter can cast his vote only for candidates of oneparty. A pull strap 16 is connected to the pin 20 on the butterflyassembly 18. A similar pull strap 16 is provided for each group ofspindles, i.e., one for the Republican candidates, one for theDemocratic candidates and one for each other political party on theballot. Each of the pull straps 16 terminates in a wedged shaped portion21 at the end thereof. The interlock 19 inclues rollers 23 between,above and below the pull straps. (FIGS. 2 and 4) These rollers arearranged so that only one pull strap can be pulled to the left. Movementof one of the straps in a direction to the left corresponding with anunlocking movement of a group of ladder channels immobilizes the otherstraps in the interlock 19. Therefore, when the ladder channels 12 incolumns 1 and 2 (FIG. 2) are moved upwardly in a direction which unlocksthe voting spindles in that group, then the ladder channels in columns 3and 4 cannot be moved upwardly because the pull strap 16 associated withthat group cannot be moved to the left out of the interlock 19. FIGS. 5and 6 depict the wedge shaped ends 21 and the rollers 23 in more detail.

FIG. 7 is a top view showing the elements associated with one votingspindle. The strap 16 (FIG. 7) goes to a general election interlockwhich is not shown. The general election interlock controls the partycandidates for which the voter can vote.

The butterfly 18 has a lug 22 which engages an opening in the ladderchannel 12. A ladder retainer guides the ladder channel for movement inthe vertical direction. The operation of the ladder channel is asdescribed with reference to FIG. 2.

FIGS. 8-l0 show the declared primary mechanism. A six sided selectorshaft 24 has a knob 25 thereon which is disposed outside of the votingmachine. The shaft 24 extends across the top of the machine. The knob 25is rotatable to one of six positions indicating the declared party ofthe voters. A vertical bar 26 is movable vertically to unlock theassociated column of voting spindles for the declared party of thevoter. The vertical bar 26 is pivoted to a link which is in turn pivotedto the front panel.

Lug receiving holes 27 are on each of the sides of the shaft 24 and arespaced along the shaft above the vertical bars 26. Lugs 28 are insertedin selected ones of the holes. Assume that the selector shaft 24 hasbeen rotated by the machine operator to a position for voting forDemocratic candidates and assume that-the vertical bar 26 is associatedwith a column of Republican candidates. A lug 28 has been positionedabove the vertical bar 26 so that the vertical bar 26 cannot be movedupwardly. Therefore, the voting spindles 5 in that column cannot berotated. The voting spindles in this column cannot be used because thecrank 31 (FIG. 7) bears against the bar 26 thereby preventing rotationof the spindle 5 on which the crank is mounted. when vertical bar 26 isfree for vertical movement, the crank 31 together with spindle 5 can berotated.

When the party selector knob 25 is moved to other positions, then othercolumns of voting spindles may be used, depending upon where lugs 28have been inserted. Only those columns where a lug has not been insertedin a hole above the vertical bar 26 can be used.

A novel arrangement is made for retaining the shaft 24 is the positionto which it is rotated. (FIG. 9) The shaft 24 is spring biased towardthe right. When it is desired to change the party selection, the knob 25is pushed toward the left against this sping bias. The knob can bepushed in only when the machine is in the recording position, not whenthe machine is in the voting position. When the knob is pushed towardthe left, the pin 29 is disengaged from one of the six holes 30 in theretaining plate. Then the shaft 24 can be rotated until the pin 29 linesup with another one of the holes 30. As the knob is released, the shaft24 moves toward the right under spring bias. The pin 29 slips into oneof the holes 30. In this way the declared primary mechanism is changedby the machine operator to the party affiliation of the next voter.

Each of the voting spindles 5 rotates in bearing plates 8 (FIG. 8). Eachof these two plates has a keyhole shaped opening 8a therein. The twokeyhole shaped openings are oppositely disposed so as to tightly engagethe bearing of the shaft 5 when the bearing plates 8 are correctlypositioned. In FIG. 8 the strap 32 goes to a vertical voting interlockwhich is not shown. The vertical voting interlock determines the numberof candidates which can be voted for an office in that column.

Normally, a machine will have either the selective primary mechanism orthe declared primary mechanism, depending upon the election laws of thejurisdiction in which the machine is used. However, an important featureof this invention is the ease with which a machine constructed with thedeclared primary mechanism of FIGS. 811 can be converted to use in aselective primary. All that is necessary for this conversion is toremove all of the lugs 28 from the holes in the shaft 24. Then, thestraps 16 which extend to the primary election interlock shown in FIG. 2can be added to the machine to make it operable in a selective primaryelection.

A wedge shaped end for each of the straps 7 is shown in FIG. 13. This isused for extremely large group voting. The thickness of the wedge shapedend depicted in FIG. 6 makes it difficult to obtain proper operationwhen there are a large number of candidates. For example, in an electionfor judges in a large municipality, there may be one hundred or morecandidates. Use of the normal thickness straps results in fanning whichmakes it impossible to operated the interlock. Fanning occurs where thecandidates are voted in multiple columns such as four columns and inmultiple adjacent rows such as 10 rows. As an example, normal strapshave a wedge shaped end which is 0.062 inches thick. The wedge shapedend 7 in FIG. 13 is only 0.030 inches thick. This reduces the fanning inhalf. As shown in FIG. 13, the wedge shaped end 7' is spot welded to thestrap 7.

While a particular embodiment of the invention has been shown anddescribed, it will be appreciated that modifications are within the truespirit and scope of the invention. The appended claims are intended tocover such modifications.

What is claimed is:

1. In a voting machine of the type which includes columns of votingspindles, a declared primary election mechanism comprising:

a multiple sided selector shaft having a knob thereon outside of saidmachine rotatable to a position indicating the declared party of avoter,

a vertical bar normally movable vertically, said vertical bar havingcut-out portions,

a crank on each of said voting spindles engaging said vertical bar toprevent rotation of said spindles when said vertical bar is in its lowerposition and engaging the cut-out portions of said vertical bar to moveit upwardly thereby allowing rotation of said spindles when said bar isfree for vertical movement,

a plurality of lug receiving holes in said selector shaft on the sidesthereof and spaced along said shaft above each of said vertical bars,and

lugs selectively disposed in said holes so that when said shaft isrotated to the position of a particular party, only the vertical barsassociated with the columns for that party move freely upwardly withoutengaging a lug.

2. The mechanism recited in claim 1 further comprising:

an indexing pin mounted for rotation with said shaft,

and

a plate having a plurality of pin receiving holes therein, said pinbeing disposed in one of said holes to index said shaft so that one sideof said shaft positions lugs over the vertical bars associated withspindles of candidates of political parties other than the declaredparty of the voter.

3. The mechanism recited in claim 2 wherein said shaft is mounted acrossthe top of said machine, one end of said shaft protruding through a sidepanel of said machine, said knob being outside said machine foroperation by an election official.

4. The mechanism recited in claim 3 further comprising:

a spring biasing said shaft toward a position in which said pin engagesone of said holes.

1. In a voting machine of the type which includes columns of voting spindles, a declared primary election mechanism comprising: a multiple sided selector shaft having a knob thereon outside of said machine rotatable to a position indicating the declared party of a voter, a vertical bar normally movable vertically, saId vertical bar having cut-out portions, a crank on each of said voting spindles engaging said vertical bar to prevent rotation of said spindles when said vertical bar is in its lower position and engaging the cut-out portions of said vertical bar to move it upwardly thereby allowing rotation of said spindles when said bar is free for vertical movement, a plurality of lug receiving holes in said selector shaft on the sides thereof and spaced along said shaft above each of said vertical bars, and lugs selectively disposed in said holes so that when said shaft is rotated to the position of a particular party, only the vertical bars associated with the columns for that party move freely upwardly without engaging a lug.
 2. The mechanism recited in claim 1 further comprising: an indexing pin mounted for rotation with said shaft, and a plate having a plurality of pin receiving holes therein, said pin being disposed in one of said holes to index said shaft so that one side of said shaft positions lugs over the vertical bars associated with spindles of candidates of political parties other than the declared party of the voter.
 3. The mechanism recited in claim 2 wherein said shaft is mounted across the top of said machine, one end of said shaft protruding through a side panel of said machine, said knob being outside said machine for operation by an election official.
 4. The mechanism recited in claim 3 further comprising: a spring biasing said shaft toward a position in which said pin engages one of said holes. 